Camping with Dogs..Anyone?

[EchoGSD]

Tomorrow we leave for our annual 4-day family reunion/camping trip. Not really rustic, we all rent semi-furnished cabins for the event. But we are in the woods, with campfires and all the fun that goes with that. It's a popular park, so there are LOTS of people, many with their dogs. We've camped with the dogs in many locations: My girls start whining with excitement the minute we start getting the camping gear out...they love going with us! Anyone else camp with their dogs?

[jakeandrenee]

I am taking Jake on a semi-camping trip next week with rustic cabins....it will be our first time!

[Sathington Willoughby]

All the time. We like going on national forest land so he can run around unimpeded by the leash and lack of people. Most designated campsite areas around here have pretty strict leash laws, which isn't a bad thing, but we prefer to avoid them for the real thing. We need to work on his fishing etiquette though. He always tries to chase the line out when casting and likes to scare the fish away with his noisy swimming. He really enjoys it though, and we try to go as much as possible.

[Chicagocanine]

I haven't been camping with my dogs but when I was a kid I think my family sometimes took our family dog when we went camping. I haven't been camping since I was a kid though.

[paulag1955]

I can hardly wait to take Shasta camping! That's one of the best parts of having a dog!

[cassadee7]

Oh we LOVE camping with our dog! Have been doing it for 11 years and he has so much fun. We camp at the beach so there is lots of digging in the sand and fetching rocks. Dogs and camping are a perfect match

[DanielleOttoMom]

We just took Otto our 5 month old black GSD camping with us last weekend for 4 nights in a tent! We also went on a family reunion! It was on Fort Cobb late in OK. He loved the lake and going on walks on the trails they had there. He swam in the lake with our kids for hours. Then he took a long nap in the tent or under a shaded tree. At night had chicken and hot dogs and lots of TLC from our family. What the life I bet he tought to him self. One thing that was funny was he would only use the restroom on grass. Not the dirt or half dirt and grass. Only the large grassed areas. We loved camping with Otto and will do it again very soon.

[Bridget]

Yes, I also love camping with the dogs. I envy you. I was anxious about it at first with Heidi, because I was afraid she would bark at everything and everyone, but she was great once she got used to it.

[AbbyK9]

For me, camping is setting up and sleeping in a tent. Or sleeping under the stars without a tent, depending on what the weather is like.

I love doing it with the dogs, but a lot of the time when we camp, it's as part of some other activity, such as attending an event or going to a reenactment, and not camping for the sake of camping.

Not a big fan of "camp grounds" where you're stuck close to lots of other people and their dogs and where they have strict leash laws and all sorts of other regulations. Kinda takes all the fun out of primitive camping.

[blackviolet]

Originally Posted by AbbyK9

For me, camping is setting up and sleeping in a tent.

Not a big fan of "camp grounds" where you're stuck close to lots of other people and their dogs and where they have strict leash laws and all sorts of other regulations. Kinda takes all the fun out of primitive camping.

Same here. I've been dying to go camping this summer, but we're waiting until Godric has all of his shots, so we said we're going to go in a month! He'll be 17 weeks by then, a week after he gets his final set of shots and his rabies shot and whatnot. That's a bit late in the season for camping, but better than nothing! Last year, we didn't get to bring the doggies, and we didn't go camping at all the year before, so Vincent has never gone camping with us. Ivan loved it though.

I just worry about Giardia. Ivan got Giardia when we took him out camping when he was young. Is there any sort of vaccination or anything you can do to prevent that besides trying not to let them drink out of streams and stuff (impossible when they're walking through them!)?